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Bioware Falsely Advertised Mass Effect 3, Says Better Business Bureau

A few weeks ago, a Mass Effect 3 protester named El_Spiko decided to make a federal case out of his revulsion over the ending to the beloved franchise. He filed a complaint with the FTC accusing Bioware and EA of false advertising.

Lawyers told me that El_Spiko didn’t have a leg to stand on, and that all of the statements made by Bioware and EA were either legally acceptable “puffing –” i.e., a standard level of exaggeration engaged in by any salesman, or done in an interview setting that couldn’t be classified as true advertising.

The Better Business Bureau, however, disagrees. On a blog post on its website, Marjorie Stephens argues that those responsible for Mass Effect 3 are indeed guilty of false advertising. She points to two particular claims on the Mass Effect website as proof:

“Experience the beginning, middle, and end of an emotional story unlike any other, where the decisions you make completely shape your experience and outcome.”

“Along the way, your choices drive powerful outcomes, including relationships with key characters, the fate of entire civilizations, and even radically different ending scenarios.”

The argument that she makes is that both are absolute statements, and can thus be considered false. Both statements are also, however, up to a gigantic amount of interpretation – for example, one could argue that your choice to push a certain button or not does indeed drive the outcome, even if it’s in an unsatisfying way.

I’m not too encouraged to see people continuing to argue the legality of Bioware’s position – it seems a little childish, and not in line with the much more reasonable face of Retake Mass Effect. For right now, the fans have won, and Bioware is back at the drawing board. If it fails a second time, then we’ll have something to talk about.

At the moment, I’m willing to bet the Better Business Bureau is enjoying much higher traffic than it’s used to.

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I think the reason people are arguing legality is because they feel that it’s the only way to get a shot across the bow of any major corporation. We’ve seen protests rise and fall, we’ve seen customer complaints go unheeded; indeed, even in this campaign, there has been an active paid media blitz to echo the derision and defamation that came from the dismissive statements of BioWare’s leadership when the RME movement started.

People are saying they’ll vote with their wallets, but that avenue is gone for those who already purchased the game or the DLC. The money is already in BioWare’s hands. Therefore, they feel the only way to threaten their opponent is to set them down in legal hot water. A major corporation will do just about anything to avoid a class action lawsuit, as whether or not they lose, the PR nightmare even being taken to court creates is always damaging to stock values and future business.

The BBB release is a victory, yes, and one that hopefully will make BioWare and EA look harder at what they are doing as they create this “Extended Cut” DLC. If it doesn’t, players will go with what they have been prepared for; they beat ME1 only to stare down a bigger fight in ME2. They’ve already begun calling EA the “rEApers”. They’ll gear up for a messy round 2 and this argument will go from industry changing drama to a legal nightmare.

“People are saying they’ll vote with their wallets, but that avenue is gone for those who already purchased the game or the DLC. ”

Shouldn’t they be buying the game after reviews and community feedback has struck? I feel like buying a game immediately on release, or preordering should be the exception, not the thing that everyone does.

As long as we’re parsing, I think “technically” is the key word. As in, “this is common practice, and no successful legal action or sanctions would ever come of this, but yeah, this statement and others implied that there are completely different outcomes and probably gave many past consumers of your product false expectations.”

Anyway, it’s been a month, and at this point most people are probably over it, even if they remain a little wistful/disappointed. From a business perspective, though, I’m sure (I hope?) it’s chastening for gaming execs like Casey Hudson to have “technically, false advertising” in their ears as they plan marketing material in the future.

your definition of technically assumes a lot. In addition to federal laws, each state generally has its own laws regarding false or misleading advertising. Technically here would probably mean: “this meets the elements of false advertising (as in, it is false advertising), but I am unsure what the remedy would be.” The BBB is not an organization with any legal authority, and she was not trying to make any statement regarding the ridiculously large number of laws this advertising could be scrutinized under (outside and inside U.S.) or what the resulting remedies would be.

I don’t think it is ludicrous that someone could succeed on such claims, but it seems unlikely to be worth their while monetarily.

Just today, the “Demand a better ending for Mass Effect 3″ group has grown by over 200 people. More than that in 24 hours. I don’ t think “most people are probably over it”. The argument is getting heated, and this statement by the BBB has served to galvanize it further.

It’s true: as far as legal stuff goes, I don’t really know what I’m talking about. I’d still be surprised if anyone pursued that “technically,” though, not only because it would cost a lot but also because it would look bad. People find it easy to pick on gamers using words like selfish and entitled, in part because it makes them feel better about themselves, as if they’re better, and in part because of some weird, surprisingly vicious mob mentality. Filing a claim would be like attracting those sharks with chum.

I think you have your meaning of technically and theoretically mixed up. Cases are won and lost on “technicallities” all the time. Technicallities are provable facts while theories are open for interpretation. Marty….

Meh, I don’t think the first statement is too much to worry about, but the end of the second one definitely crosses in to false advertising area. I don’t think any lawsuits should be filed, but lets not pretend that this is the extent of their advertising. She only mentioned two examples from the BioWare website, but you could find much more egregious examples by going through all of the advertising and comments made during interviews.

As noted above, I don’t think the courts should be involved, but I am still glad people are calling them on this. First, it at least provides a little grounding for people who are unfamiliar with the topic and crow about how the fan uproar is destroying the idea of artistic integrity. This esoteric and extremely generalized argument is given context when promises are made b/c (some) people then realize that this is more like a commissioned piece of art or getting your car detailed. Noone would fault a customer for demanding the art be changed if the product did not meet reasonable expectations (which are based on specific promises). Additionally, they would be able to do so under the law.

The second benefit of this advertising criticism is that it will hopefully give game companies a reason to pause before making wildly inaccurate claims about the product. I am skeptical that it will actually have this effect, and I do not pay much attention to game advertising (so I do not know if this is a big problem), but I have been a little shocked by some of the claims that have been made regarding this game. I see no problem with calling companies (or anyone) on their BS. I mean these claims certainly helped create the buildup that made the letdown of the ending so dramatic.